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Overview
stigma
Quick Reference
Originally (in the late 16th century) a mark made on the skin by pricking or branding, as punishment for a criminal or a mark of subjection, a brand; in extended usage, a mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality, or person. The word comes via Latin from Greek stigma ‘a mark made by a pointed instrument, a dot’; its plural form gives stigmata.
